Flight of the Three
by Layagg
Summary: A repost. A young female mage, an assassin, and a templar. They had nothing in common but the will to survive. A heart pumping adventure of their escape from Kirkwall. OCs as primary characters but with cameos of DA2 characters.


_Author's Notes:_

_Welcome! This story is about three original characters from the three classes in Dragon Age. A young mage, a templar (a warrior), and an assassin (a rogue). Their tale revolves on their fated encounter and escape. They have different plans on how to do it with their own ways of pursuing it. However, they need to depend on each other to survive. With that, they need to compromise..._

_ This is a story of friendship, heart pumping action, fast-paced adventure, comedy, and the drama as they faced the dangers of Kirkwall. There is no one they could trust but themselves..._

_Please take the time to read._

_Warning: Some blood and gore. Some cameos from the characters in-game. Specifically: some of the templars, Samson and some of Hawke's party_

_Disclaimer: This story is based on Dragon Age 2. The concept and plot is borrowed from Bioware. My own properties are the original characters of this story._

_(This story is a repost. I compressed the first three chapters of the fic into one which was my original plan. Hence, this would include the first two chapters I've already posted and chapter three.)_

**Flight of the Three**

Chapter 1: Fugitives and Abominations

_"We arrived in the dead of night. We had been tracking the maleficar for days, and finally had him cornered... or so we thought._

As we approached, a home on the edge of the town exploded, sending splinters of wood and fist-sized chunks of rocks into our ranks. We had but moments to regroup before fire rained from the sky, the sounds of destruction wrapped in a hideous laughter from the center of the village.

There, perched atop the spire of the village chantry, stood the mage. But he was human no longer.

We shouted prayers to the Maker and deflected what magic we could, but as we fought, the creature fought harder. I saw my comrades fall, burned by the flaming sky or crushed by debris. The monstrous creature, looking as if a demon were wearing a man like a twisted suit of skin, spotted me and grinned. We had forced it to this, I realized; the mage had made this pact, given himself over to the demon to survive our assault."

-Transcribed from a tale told by a former templar in Cumberland, 8:84 Blessed.

-00-0-

"Hey! Wake up!" someone whispered.

Another nudge pulled her out of her sleep. She gasped.

"Quick! We have so little time. Get up, change quickly and follow me."

At first, she thought someone was pulling a prank on her and she imagined anytime, a bucket full of cold water would fall from a door top and splash her or she would trip from an unseen thread and land her face on a bucket full of cow manure. Then, she doubted whether or not she was awake.

"Are you coming or not?" the person who woke her up hissed. She was a girl not much older than her with black hair wearing their robe they used during their training sessions. She recognized her face and thought she might be from another class.

She obeyed and quickly got behind a room divider and got dressed. She looked at herself at the mirror, saw the redness on her deep set, small eyes—traces of sleep. She shook her small head causing her shoulder length, golden hair to sway.

"Queren, I sure hope I'm dreaming. This can't be not a dream," she said to herself.

"Are you stalling?" the black-haired girl peeped in, visibly cross.

"N-no. Let's go."

Queren followed the unnamed girl, imitating her quick, soundless steps as they exited her room which she shared with eleven others. They went through a maze of corridors and stairs. Soon, she found herself in another room she hadn't seen before. Its layout were noticeably different. They appeared to be in a warehouse of some sort.

"Where are we going?" Queren whispered.

"You know."

She thought the black-haired girl was about to add another statement, not understanding the meaning of what was said, and waited quietly for it. She finally noticed after a few minutes that she waited for nothing.

"N-no, I don't," she answered.

"You've got to be kidding me," was the reply of the unnamed girl who turned to her. Queren stood and stared blankly at her.

"Really, I don't."

The girl produced a sardonic smile, rolled her eyes and continued walking.

"Who are you? Can't I even know your name?"

The girl stopped abruptly and said flatly: "No!"

Queren exhaled frustratedly. "What have I got into? This is bad. This can't be for real," she mumbled to herself.

They arrived onto a dead end. The girl accompanying Queren appeared to be looking for something as she brushed her hands on the wall.

"Got it!"

A click was heard.

The girl flipped the carpet lying adjacent to a wall, revealed a trapdoor and entered through it. Queren was torn into two and hesitated. However, not knowing her way back, feeling pressured by this unnamed girl, her curiosity pushing her, and several dozens more of reasons that she could not spell into words prompted her to follow.

The underground walkway was dark if not for the torch that the girl picked up at the entrance. It was damp and smelled like a pillow left in the basement for a decade. Queren also had to free herself often from cobwebs. Thankfully, they were all fragile and easy to break through. She shuddered at the thought of encountering a giant spider or a crawler in this area. She would utterly be helpless in front of it.

_Or maybe not. Perhaps, this girl that I've been following is more accomplished as a mage student than I am._ Queren thought. _In that case, I just need to hide behind her back and watch her turn the spider into a frozen bug or a roasted eight-legged, furry food lying on its back, waiting to be eaten. Or so... Eww! I wouldn't eat a bug even if I'm starved for a year. Oh, that's gross!_

_Perhaps being a skilled mage is not bad after all. It would make igniting fires for cooking easier, although, I don't know how to cook. Or maybe I could make a frozen ice jewelry that I could hang on my neck. But wouldn't they melt afterwards and soak my chest? Maybe I could use it so that I can make my broom sweep the floor for me and I don't have to do any of those chores._

"Oof!" Queren exclaimed as her forehead hit a low ceiling.

"Careful there!" the girl from in front called. "The ceiling's getting low."

"Right," she answered before she resumed her musings.

_I think the best thing that could happen, if I were to become a skilled mage, would be... no one would make fun of me ever again. I won't have to be stuck with only two people speaking to me—in a nice way. People would stop pulling me pranks on me and I don't have to walk every step of the way expecting some sort of embarrassment to happen on me. Being a mage is really exhausting... and boring. Hmmm. Life in the circle can be really dangerous. You could die easily out of boredom. Maybe that could work out for me. Wow! I can't believe it! I'm only sixteen years old and I don't regret dying. Maybe life on the other side would be more exciting... and nice. _

Suddenly, something brushed between her legs. She paled.

"I don't want to die. I don't want to die." She murmured.

The girl stared at her sullenly. "Hey. It's just a rat."

The rat squeaked and disappeared into the darkness.

"Oh. Is it? I thought it was a giant spider—"

"If it were so, you would be dead by now."

"Right," she answered and took a deep breath.

"Take this cloak and wear it. We need it when we get outside. We're here. Just above this ladder is the exit."

Queren obeyed. They climbed and exited through a trapdoor between the Gallows Market and the Docks. The trapdoor was cleverly hidden under a carpet under a table of supplies.

The night air breezed through her causing her to pull her cloak tighter around her and securing the hood over her head. The winter had just passed. Spring had barely arrived and every beast that hibernated still had swollen eyes from sleep. She hoped she would see trees blossoming with bright leaves and birds on branches as she had read in the library, the one place that saved her from daily torture-like boredom called daily life.

So much for it. All she saw around her were walls instead of trees and rats instead of birds. _It wouldn't have gone better even if there were trees_, she consoled herself. _How could I even notice them in this darkness? _She imagined that it must have been midnight around that time. The moon shone brilliantly overhead in a tilted smile. It was as if the head of the moon was lying on her side.

_My! It's so beautiful! It's even more now that I don't have to stare at it behind glass windows, _she thought. _Maybe following her wasn't so bad after all._

The sound of ocean waves grew louder while the smell of salty air increased. The sound of their footsteps also changed from hollow to muffled as the floor their walking on changed from concrete to wooden planks. The walkway stretched on both sides with the Gallows walls standing parallel to it. There were no ships visible. There were, however, silhouettes of people on their right riding a boat.

Suddenly, it occurred to her.

"Wait. You're getting me off this island."

"There's no turning back now."

"But the templars, they will find us and hunt us down."

"It is better than Meredith's iron hand clamping tighter on our necks everyday. Besides, who could live cooped up in a cage for a lifetime? Birds can, but not mages. There is the whole world out there outside the Gallows."

The idea of seeing a new world enticed her so much that the nagging disapproval of a part of her grew tinier and tinier. Finally, something else _can_ kill her aside from boredom. Finally, a place where the walls around her were so far from each other that she could not see them anymore. No more of the endless, monotonous reciting of spells. She would hear no more of the of the Teacher-Enchanter's nagging, which she had memorized word for word. Suddenly, it occurred to her... This must be freedom.

"Hey! Come on! Everybody's waiting!"

She felt her arm pulled and herself dragged towards the boat. The boat floated peacefully with the ocean being very quiet as well as the sky.

"What took you so long? We've been here for almost an hour," said someone from the boat, a male. The black haired girl rolled her eyes and tilted her head towards Queren. The guy who spoke earlier mumbled something impatiently.

"Reese, we all set?" said another man, who didn't look like a mage, speaking to the black haired girl.

"Yes. They are all here. What about the others, Samson?"

"They've left half an hour ago. We shall meet them on shore."

The boat started to move. It moved sluggishly for its eight tensed passengers eager to leave the island in haste.

"Where are we heading?"

"To the Wounded Coast. The mage's hideout. Somehow, since the templars had cleared that area years ago, they would not put it on the top of their mage's hideouts lists."

"I've heard of that. The templars said some mages that hid there were killed, although, rumors said they escaped for some miraculous reason."

"Yep. Some miraculous reason," Samson mumbled.

"You know?"

Samson shrugged. "Who knows? They've escaped by themselves or with outside intervention, who knows?"

"Just how safe is this hideout?"

"The templars hasn't been looking 'round here for almost a year. Must have given up after spotting no one for almost three years. We've been smuggling mages in this cave for months and it has been pretty quiet all this time. I'm sure there'll be no reason for them to come lookin' 'round here."

"That's reassuring."

-0-

The boat finally arrived at the Wounded Coast. There was little to see with the darkness engulfing every distant picturesque landscape leaving Queren to her disappointment; she could only see vague silhouettes of them. There was little to hear but the repetitive humming of the crickets. She heaved out a sigh and tried to be content, almost failingly.

Samson said goodbye and parted ways.

The hour-long walk towards the said cave was uneventful save for the frequent trips and stumbles and bumps with her companions that she got, having difficulty seeing her path. These caused some grumbles and hisses from her companions and a frequent disapproving shake of the head from Reese, their guide.

They reached the mouth of the cave and scuffled in noiselessly. Reese lighted the way for the rest with a flame on her hand she produced by her magic. What seemed endless maze of forks, crossroads and snaking paths enough to make anybody dizzy ended as the group heard low male and female voices ahead of them. At their final turn, they saw the rest of the smuggled mages from the first boat. Everyone rushed to greet a friend or a sibling from the other group. Hugs and taps on the back were exchanged. The noise from their immediate happiness rose to a dangerous level until was hushed by the guides.

"Everyone, keep your voices low. I understand your enthusiasm in seeing your friends here but we don't want our voices hinting templar pursuers to lead them here. Everybody, tone down your voices."

All obeyed and lowered their voices to whispers. Queren watched them all in silence. She envied the way they had someone to share their triumphant feeling of escape; all she had was herself. Though the cave with its cluster of mages felt warm, she felt cold and lonely.

Some were crying with joy, some were squealing in a whispered way, some were hugging their companions, some were merely tapping their friend's shoulder, but all were in smiles. Queren smiled as well as she watched in an amused, empty way. This had always been the way it went. There was no point, however, in dwelling in it. Painfully, she swallowed that big lump in her throat and brushed the thought away.

Suddenly, a tap on her shoulder from behind her caused her to spin around and cover her mouth to prevent her from squealing as well.

"Colette!" She threw a hug around her friend.

After the two relished the hug, Colette took her shoulders and took a moment to take a good look at Queren.

"Queren! I haven't seen you for only one night and now I find myself missing you."

The glow of the torches hanging along the cave walls enhanced the glow that Queren felt. She smiled and nodded, blinked a few tears and waited until she was able to speak.

"I missed you so much, too. I thought I'd be alone among these people..." She nodded again and sniffed. "I can't believe I'd be with a friend in this grand moment. I'm so happy you're here."

She stared at her friend, drinking the pleasant sight of her: the black wavy hair that curled from her shoulders down to her chest, the brown eyes and the lips that curved up as she spoke. Colette was of the same frame as her and as tall as her.

"So tell me, how was your escape? Did anybody spot you? Did somebody drag you to your boat?"

Colette laughed. "No silly! Nobody would dare drag me. I'd give that scoundrel a lot of singed hair and frozen feet for even touching me. It was all unremarkable. We were supposed to wait for your boat but after waiting for half an hour, our guide decided to leave first. Poor Samson, wasn't he a nice guy to help us, he was left in the cold by himself. He waited for your group."

"Yes, he was. My group had been on the boat for almost an hour when I arrived. He must have waited longer. Poor guy... Were you surprised when you woke up and somebody was insisting that you come?"

Colette looked at her strangely. "No. I already knew the night before that I was supposed to be in this escape."

"That's odd. Nobody warned me beforehand. Maybe they forgot. Well, atleast they included me."

"Y-yes."

"Because if not, that would make me miss you in the morning because I'd be left alone. Well, not exactly alone since I still have Trista back there. But still, you know..."

"Right." Colette smiled uneasily. Both noticed that the others had surrounded them and were staring at them, murmuring at each other:

"Why is she here? She's the weakest among us."

"Indeed, she's the least likely to survive."

"I thought Trista was also coming. I thought the final plan included her."

"Maybe they made a mistake."

"How could that be? This was planned so carefully."

"Maybe she was a mistake. Maybe it was supposed to be Trista instead of her."

"That would make sense."

Colette grimaced and bit her lip as she looked around. When her gaze fixed on Queren, she found a face pained and betrayed.

"Don't listen to them. You know what they are. They are a bunch of good-for-nothings. Come. Let's leave—"

Queren shook her arm free from her friend's grasp.

"Is it true that I wasn't supposed to be here? That Trista should be here instead of me?"

"No, no— I don't know. Maybe. But does it matter? You're here instead of her. You are going to make it towards freedom. You are the one presented with this opportunity. You are the one going to escape with me today. _That_ is all that matters."

"But you knew. You knew who was and who was not going to be in this trip."

"No, I did not know them all—"

"But you knew that I wasn't supposed to be here and she is. Because we're— because you are friends. How come I didn't know? How come you are both part of this and I'm not?"

"Queren, it's not what you think? You've got this confused."

"I'm not stupid as you think! I'm not as stupid as all of you think!"

"Queren..."

"And I thought we were friends. I thought I could trust you. I thought I had somebody I could trust. Are you? Are you really my friend?"

"Yes, Queren! I'm your friend. I would never betray you. My plan was— Trista and I planned to—"

"Why do I find myself doubting you?"

The people around them had been trying to hush them for sometime. Suddenly, another from the group hurried from the path leading outside towards the two guides. His face was filled with anxiety as he spoke quickly but quietly to them.

Both senior mages nodded grimly. The mood of the entire group of mages plunged quickly. Murmurs rose up to add to the general apprehension. One of the senior mages, the guide from the first boat, a balding man, stood up before them.

"My sons and daughters, hush and listen up. I'm grieved to say that we had been followed by the templars..."

A general uproar of fear rose. It took sometime before the senior mages were able to quiet them down.

"My people, it is in my confidence that we can take them. We have been given a divine gift of this art. They trust on their swords and shields but what we have is something more potent, more powerful. The gift of magic. Yes, they dreaded it and for that reason confined us into prison walls and squeezed their iron hands on our throats. They have every reason to dread it. Because I dare say: one mage can defeat a hundred of them. How much more would fourteen of us! The few mages that helped during the blight helped turned the battle around and end it. Those few mages had been keys to stem the tide and earn their victory.

But they are templars! Yes, they are taught and equipped to counter the magic we make. They have mastered dispels for our magic. And yes, many of us are not masters or senior enchanters. But what we know is enough! Today, we gather everything of our knowledge and throw them at their faces. We will recall everything we've learned, fully taught or not, fully mastered or not, approved or forbidden, because today is the greatest trial for us all. Today, our skills and lores handed to us would be tested for a price so high—our lives. We will battle for our survival. We will struggle to stand for our life, as mages. Our freedom. Our staffs, knowledge and magic will save us all! I will lead you all in this battle. I, Riqtar, give you my word!"

Riqtar abruptly turned around and headed towards a small chest in a corner and dragged it near the crowd. He opened it to reveal its content: knives.

"I will teach you something not taught in the circle. A magic so powerful that everyone fears it, even our fellow mages. It has been banned because of its horrifying power: blood magic. But as I've said, we need to muster everything we've got. Now, I give you weapons of power that will make everyone of those templars cringe. We will show them that they could take our freedom for a cost. And we will stand on their way! Come, and get your knives. I will show you when the time comes."

There was a general hesitation among the young mages. Upon seeing another senior mage, Reese, take her knife, everyone shuffled to get one.

_Blood magic!_ Queren thought. _Everyone knows they were forbidden not just because of their horrifying power but also because of its threat: it always endangers a mage to become an abomination. This is outrageous! They must stop! They must not—_

Her eyes met with Colette's, which averted immediately from her. The latter walked slowly towards the weapons of peril.

Queren's inside screamed to stop her but her body was frozen stiff by the memory of her betrayal. The coldness around her soon muffled the scream and her breathing soon normalized.

"My people, it is time. Now I show you," she heard Riqtar say.

The footsteps of more than two dozen templars in their silverite armor announced their arrival. The mages stood still on the other side, tensed and uneasy, expecting their coming, knife in their hands. Reese and Rikter stood in front of them. Their blades poised, ready to place an incisive wound on their forearms. Queren stood among them, knife forced into her hands which she held loosely, unlike the others.

The templars marched in three rows, each with eight men, and stopped in front of the already anxious mages. Their commanding officer marched in front of them, shield and sword strapped on his back unlike his platoon who had theirs on ready. The area was quiet that even the clearing of the throat of the commanding officer was audible at the back rows of both parties.

"Mages of Kirkwall, I am Lieutenant Jemery Herbst. Under the authority of Knight-Commander Meredith Stannard, all of you are placed under arrest for escape from the Circle, which by law of this city, brands you as apostates. Surrender and come with us peacefully. We would rather have all of you alive."

Murmurs from the ranks of the mages erupted.

"They would make us tranquil for sure!"

"Yes! I've heard so, too. Weren't tranquils increasing recently now that mages escaping had become common?"

"That's horrible! They can't do that, can they?"

"If that's so, I'd rather die than live my life as a tranquil."

"I'd rather die here than live any minute inside the Gallows."

Riqtar stood in front of the mages and spoke in their behalf.

"We will not spend any second more of our lives living under oppression and being suffocated by your vice grip. Our choice is freedom and we will not let anybody stand in the way!"

He extended his right hand towards the templars and produced a shock wave that punched through their ranks, breaking their formation, scattering them and tossing them aside. They were minimally hurt and stood immediately, rallying around their commanding officer. Lieutenant Herbst stood around them, yelling his command:

"Spread out, avoid their magic and take them one by one!" He had his shield on his left forearm and his sword, on his right, stiffly pointed at the mages. With a war cry, the templars ran and started their assault.

Queren dropped her knife as she covered her mouth in horror. They were about to be slaughtered—

-0-

A massive ball of fire erupted from the hand of one mage and slammed on the ground, catching two templars, killing them on the spot. Another hopped over the crater it produced, charged towards the mage, and hacked at him just before the mage was about to make another magic spell. The templar abruptly lifted his shield just in time as another mage lifted a huge chunk of rock and threw it at him. The shield did little to stop the rock; he flew away at the impact...

The last thing he saw was another ball of flame, quickly approaching the place where he was lying.

Herbst ducked and rolled as a mage blew icy wind from her hands, freezing two of Herbst companions behind him. He jumped up and slammed his shield at the mages face, throwing her on the ground. Tossing his sword and catching it by the handle in a reversed grip, he plunged it through her chest. He felt an invisible force smashing him on his left side, causing him to skid. Shaking the dizziness off his head, his eyes focused on the mage that walked towards him with a deadly glare. Suddenly, the mage lifted up several small rocks and pebbles in the air and hurled it at him. Herbst rolled aside and crouched behind his shield which absorbed the projectiles thrown at him. He sprinted as he went around the mage, rocks pelted towards him and missing him. He sharply veered his direction towards the mage, shield still absorbing the rocks as he charged his foe.

The strap on his shield that held it to his arm finally snapped with the impact of the rock violently shaking his shield. He threw it aside and made a dive in front of the mage as another blast of fire erupted from the enemy's hands. Herbst grabbed some dirt and threw it on the mages face, now standing above him. With the mage staggered and temporarily blinded, Herbst pushed himself off the ground and arced his sword at the mage. A thud indicated her death.

He knelt on one knee, gasping for air and surveying the scene. On his left, he heard and saw his companions chorusing a scream of agony as they were burnt to death by another ball of flame. On his right, there was another scream of a mage, running away from his pursuer but eventually cut down. He felt the world around him slowing down with his heartbeat loudly pounding on his ears. It appeared that they were winning. The mages' ranks were quickly dwindling while his own troop maintained their number at above half of their original number. He knew better than to sit down and drink the victory yet to come. This is a battle. Anything can happen...

-0-

Queren had managed to dodge and escape the templars, hiding herself behind a rock in a nearby corner at the mage's side. She sat there, shaking violently in fear and horror. She had never imagined the brutality of a battle; the stench of blood and burnt flesh were putrid on her nose that, if not for the intensity of her terror, she would have retched and vomited a long time ago. She cringed at the site of so many people covered in blood, so many dead, so many writhing and groaning in agony.

_This must be a dream. This must be a nightmare. _She tried to convince herself over and over again. She expected that any second from that time, she would wake on her bed, sweating, trembling, shaking violently, not desiring sleep anymore—

_It doesn't matter. As long as I wake up in the real world, back to the boring day to day task of listening to our mentor enchanters. I'd gladly accept that. I'd trade anything to wake up. I want to wake up! I WANT TO WAKE UP! _She screamed in her thoughts.

She watched as the mages diminished in number quickly—in fact, too quickly. From the start, the templars had outnumbered them two to one. Now, although the mages _were_ killing templars, at their rate, they would have been gone long before they had eliminated their enemies...

Finally, there were only four of them in the fight, surrounded by a dozen more of templars. She saw Colette among them along with Riqter, Reese and another male mage. The outcome was apparent in her eyes: either they surrender or they die.

Lieutenant Herbst stepped forward, sword pointed at the mages, within a leap away from them. He spoke in his quiet, determined voice.

"Enchanter, it seems that your revolution has not gone your way. You knew that any attempt to resist would be futile yet you still tried. Now, it is obvious any further struggle would be your deaths. Surrender now and you would be brought back quietly. Fight and you can prepare for your afterlife. It is your choice. But I'm warning you, we will show no mercy."

Riqter glared and chuckled contemptuously.

"No," he said. He stuck his middle and forefinger on his forehead. Suddenly, a huge invisible blast exploded around him, slapping the templars away. All the while, his companions weren't affected; they stood around a massive ring of sprawled templars. He produced a knife from his sleeve and made a quick slice on his palm. Blood trickled and dripped. As soon as the first drop touched the ground, it crept on his body like a scarlet vine that pulsed like a blood vessel. It slithered on his arms, face, torso and down to his feet. He spread his arms upward and gazed his bloodshot eyes on his foes that awaited his wrath. He snorted and drew a lopsided smile.

The templars, some still on their sides, some sitting and leaning on one hand, some standing, watched in dread. Many had seen this sight but no one had gotten over the repulsion of such act.

"A-ah!" One templar stammered as his hand lifted itself up on its own, picked his sword up and placed it on his neck. He fought his own hand with all his strength but still, blood spilled and he collapsed in a gurgled cry. The other templars gasped. Two more cried groaned as they struggled with their hands, they too gurgled a cry and thudded the ground.

Riqter, still with his arms extended towards the templars, turned to Reese and gave a nod. She faced the two younger mages.

"You know what to do," she said fiercely. "Follow his lead and give in to the power of blood magic." The two stared at each other and hesitantly picked up their blades.

Colette's chest heaved up and down. She had heard of this dark spell and had heard the ill fate of many that had used it. Her hand trembled as she placed the knife over her palm. She had no choice.

Queren's heart stopped as she saw this. She had feared this would happen. She dreaded what might become of them... what might become of Colette. She stumbled clumsily as she got up in haste and started to run as fast as she could to stop this madness.

-o-

"Colette..."

She stared at her companion. She knew him from the other class. His name was Ameer, a soft spoken fellow who smiled a lot even though their fate as mages had been very harsh. Now, he still smiled; but his was of anxiety and fear. Now she understood that it was his mask. He smiled not because he was happy but his way to escape the horrible fate they were in. He nodded at her.

"...let us do it."

Slowly, the knife pierced her skin, drawing blood, carving its path along the width of her hand which trembled because of the pain. As the blood dripped from her hand to the ground, she looked to see if her companions had done the same.

They had.

Ameer was sweating and trembling—rather violently. Suddenly his eyes rolled upwards as he made a gurgling sound. A purple light enveloped him while his skin swelled and bloated, and turned purple and pale.

She tried to scream but she soon found herself in a similar fate as his. Three gurgled scream were heard underneath a white smoke that covered them. When the smoke cleared, three humanoid creatures in tattered mage robes stood with raw muscular tissues bulging out of their skins in a distorted manner. Their faces were faces of horror and what traces of humanity in them were twisted in a hellish way.

Queren slowed down as she witnessed them happening. She stopped, frozen, and screamed and screamed and screamed—a shrill cry in terror. One of the humanoid creatures, the abomination, sharply turned its head towards her and marched slowly to her direction.

"Come and join us," it hoarsely whispered.

In haste, she turned around and fled in panic. She stumbled but painfully picked herself up and tried to continue her flight. And then...

...she froze, unable to move. It felt like a hundred invisible hands were constricting her throat and holding her body tightly. She could not even scream or yell for help. She would rather die than turn into an abomination. That was her decision from the moment she saw them turned into abominations. Now, she hoped any templar would come and slit her throat or pierce her heart before she turned into one.

Her body turned about face unwillingly to face the abomination, the humanoid monster, its eyes pierced into hers giving her shudders. It walked steadily towards her until it was before her face to face. Its breath was foul and full of death.

"Why do you try to flee? I'm sure you'd like to join us if only you allow yourself to try? Come, we will perform a ritual to help you become like us. Do not struggle, it will only make the process painful."

"...no..." she whimpered in her mind. "...no ...No!... NOOO!"

She heard another gurgling sound as the abomination limped and sagged, but still stood. Queren collapsed and fell. When the abomination's head hung, the head of the templar standing behind it was revealed. He quickly drew his sword from its body and decapitated it. The beheaded body fell lifelessly.

The templar took of his helmet revealing his long, flowing blond hair. He couldn't be more than twenties. He extended his hand in a gesture of help towards Queren. She took it and pulled herself upright.

"Thank you so much," she whispered earnestly to her saviour.

"You better get out of this place now. Quick! Go!"

She needed not be told twice and quickly made a run towards the direction of the exit. Not getting far, a ball of fire exploded nearby with its blast catching up on her. She felt herself slapped by a massive invisible hand, tossing her into the air and slamming her to the wall of the cave. She immediately passed out.

-0-

Herbst produced a blue orb of light on his palms and threw it towards his co-templar who stood paralyzed and was about to stab his own heart. The man was broken free from the blood magic and collapsed momentarily. This had been their tactic ever since the mages started using blood magic and three out of four among them turned into abominations. They spread two yards from each other in a single row as they charged the enemies, who were huddled together, countering their magic. Herbst made a mental note of their number: eight against one blood mage and two abominations. They still had a chance at winning this—provided that nothing unexpected happen.

Hoping they won't happen.

The two abominations stood in front of Riqtar and produced a cone of wind that froze everything in its path, freezing four of the templars. Herbst, with no shield at all, picked up one fallen sword stabbed on the ground and spun from the right of one abomination, decapitating one and slashing the other obliquely from the right shoulder to the left abdomen. He was about to stab Riqter when the latter disappeared in a cloud of smoke. He scanned their surroundings and found the blood mage at the far opposite end. Herbst along with his three remaining templars charged towards the mage.

The blood mage pulled his hands upward, as if pulling something of massive weight. From the ground crept up more than a dozen shades, floating humanoids with devilishly deformed faces and raw muscle sinews covering their bodies. The mage chuckled softly, his soft, eerie, ominous laugh.

"Go, my children. Finish them off."

Suddenly, two of the shades vanished and appeared above two of the templars. Each picked up one of them and dashed upwards, bashing them to the roof of the cave as they shrieked. They released their hold and dropped them over twenty feet below. Another charged at the two remaining human warriors. Herbst dashed away and evaded, but the other stood his ground and was stabbed at the chest.

-0-

Queren woke up, shook her head to ease the doubling of her vision. As her eyes focused, she saw the backs of humanoid beings which she recognized as shades. At first, she panicked but came to realize that she could only escape them if they would not notice her. She scanned her surroundings and noticed that she was near—about twenty paces away from—the opening towards the cave corridor which led to the mouth of the cave. If only she could crawl and sneak out inconspicuously...

The shades moved onwards, away from her towards the lone templar. This was her chance! She stood up and made a run towards the corridor. Two of the shades, however, turned and noticed her. They immediately rushed towards her to cut her. She hastened her run and sprinted towards the opening. She made it first and continued her run towards the exit. Suddenly, the two shades appeared right in front of her. She gave out a shriek and fell on her back. She began to turn and run the other way when one of the creatures grabbed her foot. She kicked and kicked as she struggled to get free. Alas! The shade was stronger than her.

The two creatures from hell shrieked in pain as two arrow tips emerged out from their chests. As they continued their shrieks, a silhouette of a man appeared from behind them and produced two daggers aimed at their necks.

-0-

Herbst stumbled backwards, bashed on his chest armor by one of the shades. On his back, he managed to kick one of them at the jaw and he spun around, got to his feet and moved his two swords in an arc, hacking at the shades around him. However, soon, the thick ring of demonic creatures closed in on him and disabled him. His swords were torn off his hands and he was forcefully dragged towards Riqter. The shades dropped the templar's swords at the feet of the latter.

"Lieutenant! Good day. I really love how fate is so unpredictable. One moment, I'm at your mercy, at another, here you are at mine. You remember well your speech which gave us the option of surrender. Unfortunately, I have no inclination of giving you one. I want you dead! And I will give it to you slowly. I'm going to relish yours bit... by... bit."

"You monster! You murdered all my men at the cost of your companions—!"

"You templars have provoked it!" Riqter growled ferociously. His voice abruptly turned down: "And now—"

The shades encircling them parted on one side as two of them dragged another man in balaclava, leather armor and boots. The shades took the head piece off which revealed the man's face: he had black hair, facial stubbles and bronze skin. His dark eyes leered fiercely at the blood mage. Both of his forearms were locked at the hands of the shades that brought him.

"Oh! Welcome, intruder. You are welcome to share the death of this fellow here. We were just about to start and I'd be glad to let you join him. But before I do that, I'd like to ask some questions. Why did you kill five of my shades? Oh, I see. You were rescuing... a girl? Who is one of us? How interesting. We will deal with the girl—don't worry. But first we need to deal with you first."

The newcomer fell on one knee, jerked his forearms free from the shades grasp and took a blue-colored grenade from his belt and threw it on the ground. He shielded his eyes as a bright blue light exploded in their midst. Most off the shades were torn into shreds and thrown away by the blast. Only he and the templar stood in their places. The blood mage was also slapped away by the blast and lay on his back, uninjured but severely weakened. Three of the surviving shades rushed towards them. Herbst picked up his sword and dashed towards one of them, thrusting his sword at its chest. The other man took two knives from his boots and threw them at the incoming foes. Both knives embedded themselves on their foreheads. He pulled the knives off them, cleaned them with a cloth and sheathed one of them on his boot.

He casually walked towards the weakened mage and knelt beside him. Riqter was barely conscious but breathing. Without ritual, the dark haired man slit his throat and walked towards the cave's corridor. Along its path, he picked up his two daggers, sheathing them on two back scabbards. He also picked up his bow and quiver.

"Wait! Who are you?" a male's voice called from behind.

"You don't need to know," was his husky reply.

Herbst shook his head in confusion. "Why did you rescue me? Oh, I'm sorry. My apologies; but really, I'm grateful for rescuing me. You have my thanks."

"I didn't do it for you. You were just there when I had to kill them."

Herbst chuckled. "Well, thank you anyway and thank the Maker I was there when you had to kill them."

The dark-haired man started to walk away emotionlessly.

"The mage said you rescued a girl. Where is she?"

"She's my bounty. None of your concern."

"But she's a mage. You cannot take her. She is in my custody."

The man drew his dagger and pointed it at Herbst.

"You will have to get her then."

"Leone!" a female voice called. Queren emerged from the darkness.

_...To be continued_

-0-

_Author's Note:_

_There. First chapter is done. I hope I managed to give you a thrill with the long battle. If you liked this chapter, please review. Thank you for reading! _


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